Netflix Inc. Stock , NFLX

Drawing on Randolph’s previous experience at a mail order computer company, the duo set out to found Netflix with $2.5 million in cash from Randolph’s mother, 30 employees and 925 DVD’s available to rent for similar rates to rival Blockbuster.

By 2000, having ditched the pay-per-rental model in favor of monthly subscriptions and no late fees, Netflix offered to be acquired by Blockbuster for $50, but the brick-and-mortar chain wasn’t interested. Instead, Hastings and Randolph turned their attention to an initial public offering for fresh capital.

Netflix went public on May 29, 2002, selling 5.5 million shares. Netflix’s stock price was $15 each. From its first day of trading until October of that year, Netflix stock price sank, falling as low as $4.85 per share. In less than six months, Netflix had lost over half its market value.

Finally, Netflix posted a profit for the first time ever in 2003. During the fiscal year, Netflix shipped a million DVDs every day of its 35,000-film library, bringing in $6.5 million profit on $272 million of revenue. The news, coupled with the company’s one millionth subscriber, sent Netflix’s stock price climbing faster than ever.

With Netflix’s stock price at $71.96, Netflix issued its first two-for-one stock split on February 11, 2004. Randolph, who was also a prolific video producer in his own right, retired from Netflix the same year.

As companies like Wal-Mart and Amazon entered the DVD movie rental business, Netflix’s fate was anything but certain. Netflix’s streaming service, the tech advancement that saved the company, was announced in 2007. As the service expanded overseas, starting in Canada, Netflix’s stock price would rise in kind to reach a $38 peak in July 2011 (adjusted for splits).

Soon after this success, however, Netflix stock price sank dramatically into 2012 as customers canceled their subscriptions in protest of higher monthly fees.  

The trough was short-lived. Investors that held on through the short decline (or purchased during the cheap months) are still riding the wave. Netflix stock price has not fallen lower than it did near the end of 2012.

By 2015, Netflix stock price topped $700 a share for the first time. In July of that year, with its stock price at $686.91, Netflix announced a seven-for-one stock split. In the two days following the split, Netflix shares would continue to climb another $20 to $117.88.

Netflix`s stock price continues to climb now that it has moved its entire library of data to Amazon Web Services and expanded to offline viewing, with its stock trading in the $170-$180 range as of July 2017.

Today the company continues to grow. Much of Netflix’s current growth is coming from outside of the United States, and the company passed many other production companies by number of shows and movies nominated for awards shows.